cunning linguist
1
9.1
- noun
- /ˈkʌnɪŋ ˈlɪŋɡwɪst/
- Informal
:
lingüista ingenioso
- During the debate, his reputation as a cunning linguist helped him articulate his arguments with exceptional clarity and wit.
Examples
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And good luck to all of the cunning linguists who are going to join us on that.
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As a cunning linguist, she can effortlessly switch between multiple languages while adding a touch of humor.
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I was always told I was a cunning linguist.
Blog text (2) -
The professor is known as a cunning linguist, often impressing his students with clever wordplay in his lectures.
Synonyms
26
4.2
A person who studies language and how it works
A person who studies language to understand how it works
A person who uses computers to study and process human language
A person who often uses unusual words to impress others
A person who often says short clever comments to make people laugh
A person who often makes short clever remarks
A rude word people use to praise someone very clever and tricky
Antonyms
How Skilled
- Informal
1
9.1
3
4.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the literal combination of 'cunning' (clever) + 'linguist' would yield 'a clever language scholar,' the actual colloquial meaning is a phonetic pun on 'cunnilingus' and refers to sexual skill. This meaning depends on sound-play and cultural/slang knowledge rather than compositional semantics, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not predict the intended sense.
Etymology
The compound cunning linguist combines the word cunning meaning clever and linguist meaning a person who studies language. Imagine someone clever who plays with words, so it means 'a person very skilled with language'.